Blue Malaysian Coral Snake – Venomous – Deadly

The Blue Malaysian Coral Snake is a venomous elapid and is one of the most strikingly beautiful snakes you’ll ever see. I’ve been lucky enough to see one crossing the road in southern Thailand and I didn’t have any snake hook to grab him.

Range: This beautiful coral snake is found from around Phang Nga and south into Peninsular Malaysia.

Habitat: Usually found at some elevation – over 400 meters. Calliophis bivirgata prefers heavily wooded and wet areas of primary and secondary rainforest.

They seem to prefer living under and foraging under and on top of leaves and fallen trees and rocks.

Red-headed Krait Snake Bungarus flaviceps.. This snake looks VERY similar to a Blue Malaysian Coral Snake (Long-glanded Blue Coral). This snake came from Phang Nga province, Thailand. Copyright Anders Henry. Used with Permission.

Active Time: These corals snakes are found typically at night, but on rainy and cloudy days they can also be found to be active in the daylight, like some other coral snakes.

Description: Medium sized, though large for a coral snake, this snake reaches 140 cm typically, and up to 170 cm. or so, have been recorded. The body is mostly deep blue or black with light blue or white stripes along the lower ventral side of the body. The head, venter (belly), and tail are brilliant red. The nose is blunt for foraging the leaf litter where it spends most of its time. Dorsal scale count: 13-13-13.

Defensive Behavior: Always avoiding man and other large threats, they can be very fast as they flip about almost spastically. When they are trapped and tailed, they may attempt to flip over on the dorsal side, exposing a brilliant ventral of red, orange, and pinkish color. During foraging these snakes are very slow moving.

Food: Prey includes other snakes, lizards, frogs, birds.

Danger: All coral snakes must be treated as potentially lethal snakes. That said, many people free-handle these snakes at their own peril. Deaths have occurred as the result of envenomation by this snake. One man in Singapore was reported to have died within five minutes of envenomation. Do be exceptionally careful and never hand-hold any deadly snake.

Venom Toxicity: Neurotoxic venom which does not initially present with much pain at the bite site is immediately acting to block nerve impulses. The wound may become numb, and lips may also get numb. Difficulty in breathing occurs as the venom shuts down muscle contractions – the diaphragm and other major muscles.

Antivenom: None.

Key Diagnostic Features: Local pain + flaccid paralysisGeneral Approach to Management: All cases should be treated as urgent and potentially lethal. Rapid assessment and commencement of treatment for symptoms is mandatory. Admit all cases.

Offspring: Oviparous and clutches of 1-3 eggs.

Notes: One of the most impressive snakes to see in the wild. Fairly common in deep Southern Thailand and Malaysia mountains. This snake is easily confused with Calamaria schlegeli in Malaysia, Singapore, Bali, Java, and Sumatra. C. schlegeli is the Red-headed Reed Snake, which is harmless. The reed snake has smaller scales and no red tail or venter. Venter is grey and white.

Hello Vern….can you please look at my website page on snakes and tell me if the snake taken in Tioman.. is indeed a RedHeaded Krait or Blue Coral Snake…Many Thanks..(About 7 feet long, late morning in jungle above golf course.. lying quietly in foliage by track , very slow to move off ).

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Thailand has 200+ snake species with about 35 of them venomous and deadly (on land).
I started this site to educate Thais, expats, and visitors to Thailand about snakes. Many people kill the snakes they see here, while in many cases - they are non-venomous and completely harmless. With this site I hope to give people a better idea of what is harmful and what isn't.

Browse the many snake photos and videos here so you can identify snakes you see on your porch, in your bed, or underfoot.

If you have been bitten by a snake - go to a hospital FIRST. Don't waste time looking it up on the internet. With some snakes you need to have medical help as fast as possible. With others you have some time. I know a Thai man whose brother died in less than 10 minutes from a monocled cobra snakebite.

There are venomous (some say 'poisonous' erroneously) snakes everywhere in Thailand. Friends have had cobras in their kitchen, and others had kraits in the garage. Green vipers love bushes and trees near water and walkways. Malayan pit vipers are on the ground at night.

Bookmark this site so you can quickly identify snakes you have seen. Notice the variety of venomous and non-venomous snakes in Thailand - and realize that they come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and patterns.